


seeking a friend to help me find my ex-girlfriend (and for the end of the world, too)

by idlewheel



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Seeking a Friend for The End of the World AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 16:34:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13838727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idlewheel/pseuds/idlewheel
Summary: when amy learns that she has less than a month until a giant meteor hits earth and kills her and all it's inhabitants, she doesn't know that she's going to be spending these last days searching for the ex-girlfriend of his next door neighbor. but, she is, and her life is changed in more ways than one.





	seeking a friend to help me find my ex-girlfriend (and for the end of the world, too)

“Well, we’re screwed.” is the only thing Teddy says before packing up his things and running out the door. Amy barely hears him, eyes glued to the television screen. 

The meteor is speeding towards them and the end of the world has commenced. This was not a surprising factor; the scientists had assured the public that it would be stopped. But, Amy watches as the live footage as the rocket, the one thing they promised would deter the meteor, explodes. 

And with it, all shreds of hope for mankind.

“And with eighteen days and counting, this is Francis Langley with Channel Five news. Hug a loved one and have a good night. We only have nineteen left.”

* * *

When Jake Peralta finds out the world is ending, he’s sitting at work. Ross walks over to his desk, tosses him an old file and says, “World’s ending, dude. Rocket just freaking exploded.” 

The first thing Jake thinks is, _finally_ , it’s not that his life totally sucks, his life is actually pretty sweet, but this thing had been looming over them for months now. First, the scientists told them that they still had time to stop it and then, they didn’t, and then they did again. And now, well...Jake’s glad for the distraction from that unsolvable case.Even if that distraction is a death sentence.

Captain McGintley throws himself off the third floor window the next day, leaving Jake his old watch and huge dent on his car. He thought it premature, they still had seventeen days left, for God’s sake!

But, when it’s been a few days, it finally starts sinking in. He’s dying. Actually, they’re all dying and there’s pretty much _nothing_ they can do to fix it. Pretty soon he’s going to be blown to bits into the greater unknown. There will be no casket, no funeral. 

Nothing at all. 

Then, he thinks, _what's the fucking point of it all?_ Is life truly nothing but a cruel joke because, here he is at 39: no wife, family, children, or riches to show for it. These past years it’s like he’s been hanging, suspended in air, but now he’s been brought down to Earth so hard his bones have shattered.

So, he stops showering, stops going to work, and finally opens that bottle of champagne Gina gave him for his twenty first birthday, years ago. Taylor Swift plays loudly from the speakers of his radio twenty four hours of the day. Even her pleasure seeking voice does nothing to calm him. So, he plays it louder, trying to drown out the thoughts in his brain.

He doesn’t care about the noise, everyone in the building is already gone.

They’re off to smoke, drink, and live their best thirteen days, thirteen hours nine minutes and forty-five seconds. There’s a knock on his door that startles him a little while later. He thought he was the only inhabitant of the building and he lowers the music down some. His heart beats harshly in his chest as he makes his way to the door, grabbing his still unused baseball bat in case it’s an intruder, or, a zombie.

_Jake, it’s a meteor, remember? It’s not the zombie-freaking-apocalypse._

He looks through the peephole, gazing down at the fish-lensed face of his next door neighbor. Her black hair is still as immaculate as can be, despite the looming clock. Jake has never really spoken to her, only those few times they put her mail in his slot and he went to return it. But, there’s a bout of nostalgia that suddenly blooms within him. They’ve been living next to one another for _years_ and they’ve never spoken despite those tiny moments. 

(Wow,there’s so many goodbyes he’s never going to be giving.)

Suddenly, he wishes he had started way more elevator conversations.

He opens the door slowly and her nose wrinkles a little in distaste. He makes a mental note to take a long bath; he surely doesn’t want to smell like three day old Jake when he meets God. Oh, fuck. Is there even a God? Or is this it? The thought scares him more than he thinks possible and he files it into his nightly crying folder. 

“Hi, there.” He greets, dropping the bat behind him. She’s not going to attack him, he knows this. 

“Have you seen Robert around?” she asks, foregoing the introduction. 

Robert, their landlord. No, Robert was halfway to Ireland by now. Two days ago, he told Jake that he planned to spend the last of his days with the man he’s loved since he was a child. 

Jake wanted to shake him and say, “What’s the damn point?” But couldn’t; just because he was all alone didn’t mean that other deserved the same.

“Not around, but you might want to check Ireland.”

She lets out an exasperated breath, nose flaring in distaste. “I don’t know who to give my check to.”

“For?”

“The rent.”

Jake snorts, leaning against the door, arms crossed. “I don’t think it matters now.”

Her eyes tighten; she wasn’t taking it so well either. Maybe not nightly crying bad but bad enough that now that he’s closer, he can see the half moons of tiredness under her eyes, the wisps of hair loose on the bottom of her ponytail and her pursed lips.

It’s like looking at something perfect from afar and then squinting and seeing the cracks and the imperfectness. 

It makes him feel less alone.

“Right.” She nods bleakly, clutching a red envelope Jake hadn’t noticed, tighter. He notices the stamp.

“They stopped delivering mail yesterday.”

“Oh, this isn’t mine.” she shakes her head, ponytail bobbing behind her. “It’s...yours.” she hands it to him awkwardly and Jake can’t really think as he holds it. A letter for him? His heart beats faster in his chest. Was it from Gina? He hadn’t seen his childhood friend in months, not after she got that job in Philly.

Or maybe...No, the thought was too stupid to let it fester into his brain. But, despite it, he lets it. 

Maybe, just _maybe-_

“Mine?” It’s a little heavy in his hand and he shakes it around. There’s something in there, like a pendant or a rock. His heart nearly drops as he reads the sender’s name. _Sophia Perez_.

It’s from her. As in Sophia Perez, ex fiancee and ex love-of-his-whole-entire-life-who-married-some-businessman-and-now-lives-in-Philly.

“....he left and I found a bunch of mail in one of his drawers that I guess, he forgot to give to you.” Her voice is far away, as if she’s speaking through a cone. She pauses, lips pursing. “He always forgot to do stuff. It was really annoying…” Jake’s almost shaking because it’s really her. She wrote to him. The girl whom he’s loved for half of his teenage years and then five more of his adult ones sent him a letter. A freaking letter and he’s barely receiving it, thirteen days till his death.

“Are you okay?” she asks, eyebrows creasing in worry.

“Hmm? Yeah, I…when did this arrive?” He shakes the letter as he speaks. 

His neighbor shakes her head and speaks slowly, like he’s a child. “I...don’t know. I told you that I found it in one of his drawers.”

“His?”

“Teddy.” Ah, her boyfriend. Or, ex. Jake’s still reeling with amazement and wonder. Half of his body is going to blow up like a giant balloon and explode into the room, drenching it with sunshines and rainbows and everything good. 

Gah, he’s just so damn _happy_.

“I’m just going to go.” she sees, discomfortness showing on her face after a moment.

“Wait! No, I….stay here.” He urges, not even thinking before wrapping his hand on her arm. She twists it away and nods slowly. She probably thinks he’s deranged and is most likely fearing for her safety. Still, he runs to his room and rummages through his drawers, making sure not to wrinkle the letter. He’s too amped to open it yet and he wants it to be absolutely perfect.

He’s thinking he’ll open a bottle of wine and read it in the dark or maybe he’ll just drop onto the floor and read it right now. 

The possibilities are endless. He never knew he could be this happy again. It’s like she’s crawled into every single crevice of his soul.

She’s still standing by the door by the time he makes it back. God, he wonders if she’d accept his offer for a glass of wine as a thank you. The buzzing of bees inside his stomach, stinging his stomach, are making it nearly unbearable. He wants to thank her in a million ways and one.

“Here.” he says, handing her McGintley’s watch with shaky hands. It’s the only valuable thing he has left. The rest have been eaten, drunk or destroyed. She’s shocked for a second but reels it back and gazes down at the watch, jaw tightening.

“What is this?”

“A watch.” He replies simply. “For giving me the letter.”

“Well, take it back.” she says back harshly, nearly entrusting it back into his hands. “I don’t want it.

Jake’s shocked with the storm behind her eyes that’s appeared without warning. A dark thing, far gone from the bright chocolate before.

“I’m just trying to thank you-“

“I’m not trying to acquire new things.” she says evenly. “Or things that tick down the seconds.” That statement nearly punches the air out of his lungs. She leaves without another word, the door to her apartment closing tightly behind her. Jake stares at the spot in which she once stood.

Behind him, in his apartment, Taylor sings of green eyes, her voice bright and cheery. While, inside of Jake, a dark storm brews.

_Oh, right._

With all the excitement, Jake had forgotten that they were dying.

* * *

“She wanted to get back together with me.” He says eagerly as soon as she opens the door. 

“I-what?” Her hair is now messily braided back and she’s in pajamas. Jake realizes that it’s three in the morning and that people sleep at that time; unlike him who has been bouncing around his apartment for hours now. It took him three hours to open it and another three to finally read it all without the smile on his face and his giggles interrupting.

It was like the words floated out from the page and he was unable to catch them. Two beers took care of that and then three more took care of knocking on his neighbor’s door. 

“Sophia.” Jake says, the beer making him a little lightheaded. “That’s why she wrote me the letter: because she was finally ready to settle down with me.”

“Good for you?” She asks, eyebrows quirking together. She smiles dryly and begins to close the door.

“Maybe you could help me!”

She stops closing the door and opens it again. This time, she doesn’t hide her annoyance.

“Help _you_?”

“I need to find her.”

“And? What does that have to do with me?”

“I know you need something. There’s a reason why you’re still here and not out there with your friends and family.” He says, not stopping despite the wounded look on his face. “And...if you help me find her then I’ll help you with your thing.” He doesn’t know why he says that; he has nothing to offer except McGintley’s knock-off Rolex.

She hesitates.

“Anything.” Jake adds desperately. He doesn’t want to do this alone. There’s something drawing him here, to her and she’s the reason she has the letter. If not for her, then none of this would be possible. She’s his lucky charm. 

She purses her lips and says,“My family is stuck in Cuba. They missed the last flight out.” Her shoulders roll back. “Take me to them and I’ll help you out.”

“Okay.” Jake nods quickly. “I will.”

Her eyes widen in surprise. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah.” This is worth swallowing his pride. This is worth it all. He holds out his hand and she puts her small, soft one in his. He squeezes when she shakes his and doesn’t drop it as he says, “I promise.” Her eyes sparkle and his heart quickens.

_Sophia. Sophia._

“I’m Jake.”

“Amy.” 

**__**

* * *

**TWELVE DAYS DAYS, TEN HOURS, FORTY FIVE MINUTES AND TEN SECONDS TILL THE END OF THE WORLD.**

**Author's Note:**

> This has been an untouched WIP forever but here is the first chapter! I really hope y'all enjoy this. Let me know what you thought in the comments.  
> [My Tumblr](http://www.idlewheelposts.tumblr.com)


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